Does Anyone Notice?
by Nakimochiku
Summary: does anyone notice someone had just given their life for someone else? Hichi x Ichi, character death, AU, depressing. onshot enjoy


Does Anyone Notice?

In the macabre world of demon hunting, things were kept hidden. Trade secret, you could say. No one will ever tell you how to silence a wailing banshee before her screeching prophecies came true. Or how to put to rest the raging spirit of a murderer, you had to find your own way.

They were still young, he could admit. They both could. They had thought at first, wonderful, easy money. But the spirits weren't always so willing to agree to slither back into the dark stinking depths from which they came.

No common human knew their names. Hunting was a hidden society. They received no thank yous. To the rest of the world, they were the seedy looking weirdos walking around at night, killers and perverts and the like. The rest of the world didn't know what kept them safe in their beds at night. Which was just as well. Would anyone honestly thank them? They got blood on their hands. They were anything but heroes.

They huffed and panted as quietly as possible, passing through the shadows, twisting and turning in a network of alleyways, hoping they would lose the vampire who was on their tail, just beyond their sense of perception, lurking in their minds and in the darkness, waiting till they were shivering and exhausted from fear. But of course, they had to kill the damn beast before that happened.

Ichigo chanced a glance behind him, seeing nothing but the encroaching mists, which was a bad sign. He forced Shiro to follow him as he dipped into another hidden alleyway. As far as Ichigo knew, Shiro was still running behind him. They had to hurry and kill this thing before the sun rose. One more night and they might not get the amount of money they were promised.

They neared the end of the alleyway, so they turned into another. He felt a cold breathe of air across his cheek, getting a bad feeling. Which he always listened to. But they both had to keep running until he could come up with an idea on how to defeat the freak chasing them.

Suddenly things slowed down. Not in that weird movie like way, but slowed as in he could see, hear, touch, taste and smell every detail of his surroundings, yet couldn't touch them. "Ichigo!" he heard Shiro cry out.

As he whipped around, his eyes widened in surprise. The vampire was flying strait towards him, claws extended, Shiro close behind. his hand reached for his large sword out of instinct, but he already knew it was too late. In a blink of an eye, Shiro threw himself in front of Ichigo, just as the vampire's claws tore into black fabric, rending fragile flesh. Ichigo swung his sword at the demon, forcing him off Shiro.

Time sped up again, and his mind blanked over in rage. He let out a yell of anger, slashing wildly at the monster, catching him in the side. Another downward slash, he got the bastard's shoulder, a nice curving upward motion, carrying the momentum of his previous attack, ripping open the monster's chest.

And stab.

He kept stabbing, even after the fiend had turned to dust. "Ichigo..." he faintly heard Shiro whisper. He turned around and ran back to his partner, abandoning his sword. He dropped to the ground, placing the albino's head in his lap. Shiro grinned at him.

"Fucking retard! Why the hell did you block me? I would have been just fine!" he yelled. Shiro's grin only widened and he let his fingers brush against Ichigo's arm, taking a gasping breath as the pain overwhelmed him."We have to get you to Urahara's," but Shiro stopped Ichigo from lifting him.

Shiro reached his good arm upwards, to the back of his neck, wincing. "I was bitten..." Ichigo's face looked stricken.

"No, no no no!" he shook his head, checking Shiro's neck himself. Sure enough, the two puncture wounds were there. Even if Shiro didn't die from his wounds... soon he'd be a vampire monster... "You had to block me didn't you?! Why?!" but that was a stupid question, because they both knew why. Of course they knew why. They also knew that Ichigo would have done the same for Shiro, no matter the risk. "Fucking retard..." he hissed, taking out his hand gun.

"Yea, I'm a retard, but I'm your retard." Shiro chuckled at their old joke. Ichigo bit his lip angrily, his eyes itching as they filled with tears he wanted to shed.

Ichigo hated that Shiro always acted so brave. He hated that smile that told him everything would be alright. Because nothing would be alright. The stupid bastard was going to leave him all alone again, and Shiro knew how much he hated being alone. Shiro had promised that they would be together. Alywas. But he should have known the bastard would break his promise. Should have fucking known.

He saw Shiro's eyes go blank. Not the blank of death, but the blank of inhumanity. He was hanging on though. All hunters hung on when this happened. They wanted to die human. It was only natural of course. Who would want to be remembered as a beast by their partners?

Ichigo blinked back his tears once more. "Don't cry, Ichi..." Shiro whispered, smirking. "Love you." he choked, holding Shiro closer, cocking the hand gun.

"I hate you, fucking bastard." he hadn't cried when his mother had been killed by a Hollow. Hadn't cried when one by one, their happy group of friends and hunters started falling away. He hadn't cried for any of them. It would be a betrayal to their memory.

But Shiro was different. He _loved_ Shiro. And now the bastard was breaking the promise they'd made long, long before they'd ever even thought of being hunters.

Shiro didn't reply to his cursing, simply chuckled, threading his fingers through orange locks. "Love you." he repeated, though in a strained way, as though he couldn't quite remember how to talk.

Ichigo pressed their lips together. He could already feel sharp fangs pressing against his lips. But he knew Shiro was hanging on tightly. "Love you too." it hurt him to say that. It hurt him to do this. He couldn't help but think of what ifs. What if they hadn't accepted the job? Or hadn't gone out tonight? Or hadn't even become hunters? He pressed their lips together once more, loving the taste of Shiro's lips.

"Hurry Ichigo, hurry!" Shiro gasped, his blank eyes going wide. Ichigo choked back a sob, putting the gun to Shiro's head. "Love you." he whispered once more, attempting another smile.

Bang. "Love you too."

Did anyone notice that a savior had just died in order to protect someone?

OWARI

_gah, I feel all weird. I'm actually celebrating! It's been a while since I've written something that isn't horror or porn or both. Woo! Celebrate! Review please!_


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